Green AV and Digital Signage: An Unlikely Partnership
By Linda Seid Frembes
rAVe Columnist I’m not sure about you, but I have no idea how much energy my office is consuming right now. I’m sure if I thought about it, did a quick inventory and some simple math, I could be in the ballpark of how many kilowatts per hour I am using right now. But even if I knew that number and it was remotely correct, what then?
The Department of Energy has an oft-quoted data point: 70 percent of all electricity produced in the U.S. is consumed by commercial buildings. Yes, read that again. SEVENTY PERCENT. Trying to reduce seventy percent of anything seems like a losing battle, right? So, if I leave my computer and printer on 24/7 that’s only a small fraction of a huge problem. Right?
Data is everywhere these days. For example, I can see the outside temperature and wind speed on my desktop without ever going outside thanks to my Weather.com app. This information is very helpful during the winter here in the Northeast. Then I can choose whether I want to walk my dog or decide that it’s too cold today. Having that data gives me a choice as to what I want to do. However, the data I don’t have ready access to is the extra electricity I will use if I turn on the TV, amp, and surround sound speakers instead of going for that walk.
We’ve heard a lot these past few years about Green AV, energy efficiency, “being green” and LEED points. AV is an energy hog, plain and simple. AV systems will never give energy back to the grid like a solar panel, so let’s concentrate on using our systems for positive behavioral change instead.
Digital signage, for instance, is a very important tool, but brightly-lit flat panel displays are quite an obvious sign of energy consumption. There are new greener features, like ambient light sensors to adjust display brightness and motion sensors to turn off unwatched displays. And there’s always the argument that digital signage saves paper. From the consumption side, we’re making headway.
Companies who deploy digital signage networks use it for myriad things – advertising, announcements, emergency broadcasts, and room signage – and the tools are now available for use in sharing energy consumption data to building occupants. Lucid Designs Building Dashboard is a software package that integrates with building systems like lighting and HVAC and can show energy consumption of a building (both in real-time and historical use). There’s also Onset’s web-based HOBO U30 remote monitoring system that collects building and environmental data into graphical models for real-time feedback on energy use.
So imagine being able to see how much energy your building is consuming via the flat panel display in the lobby while you stand and wait for the elevator. Then you get on the elevator and there is a smaller flat panel telling you the amount of energy your elevator is using to get you to your office. If you knew that number, would you have taken the stairs instead?
Then there is the desktop energy management system by UK-based PRI called Scroller for XP. PRI targets its software to businesses wanting to reduce their carbon footprint by energy monitoring. According to PRI, the real-time data is “accurate to the flick of a light switch” and ties energy consumption to cost. You are constantly reminded of energy use by a scrolling bar across your desktop monitor, which your company can custom design using their corporate branding.
If you knew your building’s energy consumption in kilowatts right this minute, would you think twice about turning on that second lamp? Maybe, maybe not. What if you knew the cost of that electricity and there was a promise that if a certain cost-savings goal was met, there would be open bar at the holiday party this year? Now we’re talking! Linda Seid Frembes is a freelance journalist who covers AV technology, installs, market trends and industry news. Linda has worked with high profile AV manufacturers, trade organization, systems integrators, rep firms and dealer/distributors in the industry including John Lyons Systems, Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW), Northern Sound & Light (NSL), and InfoComm International, among others. Reach her at linda@ravepubs.com
Back to Top |
PointandPress Shows Interactive Touch Screen Called the Window.i, PointandPress has designed a very unique set of touch screen systems that literally work THROUGH windows. So, what this means is that you can have a DS display hanging in a window showing information and customers can walk up to the window and literally take control of the sign’s interactive touch-screen-like features by pressing on the glass of the window. rAVe believes this may be THE KILLER APP for DS for all of 2009. This will certainly be something all retail DS applications will want as it makes a DS display truly dynamic through interactivity by the consumer.
This product WILL be a rAVe DS Product of the Year Award Winner. So, go see it at: http://www.pointandpress.com/Interactive.aspx Back to Top Bloomberg Enters DS Market Bloomberg has launched a DS service called Bloomberg on Display that they are aiming at retail financial shops (i.e., banks, investment offices). They are aiming to simplify the installation of DS networks into banks by offering a packaged option that accommodates both local and national Bloomberg content that would include in-branch marketing.
The unique hook, Bloomberg says, is that they will block all competitive advertising for specific branches (so, no B of A ads in a Wachovia). Using STRATAMedia’s digital signage App, Bloomberg on Display plays Bloomberg’s TV station all the time while framed with local, national and promotional messaging and ticker tape style text.
So, if you’re planning to target financial institutions, this may be something worth checking out as Bloomberg is considered an unbiased source of financial news. Learn about it at: http://www.mystratamedia.com/ondisplay.php Back to Top Da-Lite Launches Redesigned Holo for DS Applications Earlier this month, Da-Lite Screen Company launched the all-new Holo Screen for large format digital signage applications. Engineered and designed to address the need for custom sizes in digital signage installations, the Holo Screen is a major upgrade from the previous holographic film available from Da-Lite (and 50 percent cheaper) – including a projection angle from 18 to 35 degrees and 4.0 gain value.
Designed specifically for high ambient light environments and point-of-sale applications, the new Holo Screen is available in sizes up to 108 X 300 inches and is designed to be used with a single lens projector.
For more information on the new Holo Screen, go to: http://www.da-lite.com/products/product.php?cID=10&pID=335
Back to Top Samsung Parners with Scala for USB Image Key In a unique partnership that we believe many other DS display manufacturers will emulate, Samsung and Scala have developed a special USB key that will reformat the flash drive or hard drive of a Samsung display with Windows embedded and Scala 5 Player software. The USB key allows end users to use plug-and-play technology to more easily configure 690- or 780-based model Samsung LCDs or set top boxes for use in a Scala network.
The USB image key overrides the image that Samsung embeds in their screen PCs and converts it to a Scala player. This eliminates the need for customers to manually reconfigure their screens or set back boxes, decreasing the amount of time required to install their network.
To learn more, go to: http://www.scala.com/news/2009-press-releases/samsung-usb-october-8-2009-2013-image-key-now-available-for-digital-signage-running-on-scala Back to Top NEXCOM Adds DS Media Player with Four HDMI ports Dubbed the PDS 5541, NEXCOM’s newest Media Player is unique in that it not only has four HDMI outputs but, in addition, each output can feed separate 1080p content to each DS display. So, in a digital signage application where you have multiple monitors sitting side-by-side and you want different content on each, one player can generate all the content. For example, in a menu-board DS display, an installer could design a system where four separate DS LCDs are each displaying separate parts of the restaurant’s menu – all from one media player.
In addition to the PDS 5541 including four HD video and audio feeds, NEXCOM says they’ve designed the players for 24/7/365 use.
For more information on the new player, go to: http://www.nexcom.com/ProductModel.aspx?id=89208598-dd37-4ab5-a088-ed5fdf1ae2b4 Back to Top Screenfeed Launches Unbranded Weather App for DS Screenfeed, known for its unbranded apps for DS systems, has FINALLY launched a weather app that’s both local and national (and SD as well as HD). Having an unbranded feed for weather is, obviously, a big deal as it opens another advertising opportunity for DS systems and networks.
Screenfeed says the weather feed can be configured to be a small App for full-screen animated regional updates or emergency weather alerts, and that it’s updated two times a day.
To check out the weather App from Screenfeed as well as their other Apps, go to: http://www.screenfeed.com/content/ Back to Top Sanyo Debuts LCD Projectors Aimed at DS Networks In a first for Sanyo, they’ve specifically targeted the DS market in the release of two new high-brightness projectors – the PLC-XM150 and the PLC-XM100. Specified at 6000 and 5000 ANSI lumens, respectively, the PLC-XM150 and the PLC-XM100 are designed with what Sanyo calls an Active Maintenance Filter which contains 10 filter rolls that change themselves automatically when needed, making for a 10,000-hour filter system in each projector. Designed for large-venue applications (auditoriums and lecture halls) these projectors could also find their way into small arenas and student unions where video projection is required and could be justified by having a digital signage network pay for operation of the system.
To learn more about each projector, go to: http://us.sanyo.com/Projectors-by-Market-House-of-Worship-Classroom/PLC-XM150-L Back to Top LCD Enclosures Adds Two-Sided Tilted Outdoor Enclosure Designed for the top of gas pumps, LCD Enclosures has designed a two-sided, outdoor LCD enclosure that’s also tilted down towards the person standing and pumping fuel at a gas station. Capable of being customized for protecting LCDs operating in outdoor temperatures from -10-degrees F to +140-degreed F, the enclosure can accommodate various sized LCD panels up to 42” for now.
To learn more, go to: http://www.lcdenclosure.co.uk/digital-signage.html Back to Top DSE Registration Now Open Digital Signage Expo (DSE), Interactive Technology Expo (ITE), and Out-of-Home Network Show (OOHNS), the world’s largest International Trade Show and Conference and the only place where digital signage and interactive technologies are exclusively showcased all in one place has opened registration for all three co-located shows at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
This year Digital Signage Expo’s Seventh International Conference has been expanded to present the world’s largest educational conference ever staged to help encourage and support the industry’s growth. The conference consists of 40 industry peer-led seminars (expanded from 30 in 2009), 37 Lunch & Learn Roundtable industry-specific discussions and 20 on-floor Workshops, with over 160 speakers to run Wednesday and Thursday, February 24-25, 2010.
Register at: http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net Back to Top Night Club Flirting via BrightSign DS Network BrightSign digital sign controllers have been installed in the VIP Room Theater, one of the most famous Paris nightclubs. The installation features coffee tables with 32-inch screens set horizontally into the tabletop. Video clips and playlists are updated remotely over the Internet using the BrightSign Network Manager and users can send messages in real time to each table using standard SMS text messaging.
The Goal
A French digital signage agency, L’île des Médias, was commissioned by a major champagne company to design the six video tables, adapted to the nightclub environment. The goal was to reinforce the champagne’s exclusive image by showing advertising clips, video from its elite nightclub events and presentations of its VIP suites in Cannes, St. Tropez and Paris. To add a further personal touch, the client wanted to show welcome messages alongside the main video zone.
How’d They Do It?
The implementation of the six table displays consists of a dual zone display, in which video takes up most of the table area, while text content is displayed above it. This “zones-like” display was achieved with the BrightSign Network Manager’s presentation wizard, which allows users to customize their display into zones and create and run a separate playlist for each zone. In this case, a video and image looping playlist was created for one zone and an RSS ticker feed provides the text playlist content for the other zone.
BrightSign’s video decoding engines and scaling hardware provided the superior 1080i HD video quality required and, since BrightSign supports industry standard video and image formats, L’île des Médias was able to use its existing content development practices to create the MPEG-2 and JPEG images on display.
Each of the six interactive video tables is managed remotely via a network connection to update content. Video content is updated around once a month over the Internet and delivered in high-definition 1080i format. Text messages are delivered to the table screens via an Internet gateway and displayed in an RSS feed zone defined by the BrightSign’s configuration. BrightSign Network Manager simplifies the task of automated updates and L’île des Médias created a special application to make the SMS text messages display on the BrightSign units.
For more information, download this PDF that explains the entire install: http://www.brightsign.biz/press_news/Paris_VIP_Room-Release.pdf
Back to Top News from Tightrope Media Systems and SpinetiX Tightrope Media Systems has named Eric Henry as CEO and Jim Morical as Chief Business Development Officer. Both come from AV manufacturers rep firm Kodo James… SpinetiX has appointed John Lay Electronics as their distributor of digital signage hardware and software solutions in Switzerland… PumpTop TV, a digital media network for screens at gas pumps, has made a deal with MovieSet.com to provide content from movies in different stages of production, from green light to distribution. Back to Top So, that's rAVe DS [Digital Signage] for this month! Remember, we are here to HELP the AV market penetrate the DS market. Less than 5 percent of the DS market is integrated by AV companies. The other 95 percent is IT-based. Now, there are AV publications and even an association that would like to draw those IT people in to AV (it would increase readers, right? – and more readers means they can charge more for ads). That is NOT what we are doing. rAVe DS is specifically designed to pull AV into the DS market and teach AV companies how to take business away from the currently dominated by IT market.
For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read a 100% opinionated ePublication that's designed to help AV integrators. We not only report the news and new product stories of the digital signage industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that's why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad).
Don't like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below.
To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter — instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas: Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter rAVe ProAV Edition. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004. rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007. rAVe ED [Education] launched in May 2008. rAVe DS [Digital Signage] was launched in January 2009.
To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com
Back to Top Copyright 2009 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 510 Meadowmont Village Circle, Suite 376 – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – (919) 969-7501. Email: sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe Rental [and Staging] contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. |